


Teaching Trouble

by starlightreader



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Highschool AU, Kylo is bad with his words as usual, Miss Jakken, Mr.Ren, Rey is a feisty gal, Teacher AU, real life AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 22:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13691442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightreader/pseuds/starlightreader
Summary: Highschool means drama for everyone... including neighboring teachers.





	Teaching Trouble

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheStolenQuill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStolenQuill/gifts).



> So this is a gift fic for the More Than Love Valentine's Exchange. I'm really hoping TheStolenQuill likes it! I enjoyed your list of prompts and actually had trouble selecting which one to work on so thanks for the awesome ideas! I ended up combining some elements from the first prompt so I'm hoping those played out well. Can't wait to get some feedback! This is the first fic I've ever posted so BOY HOWDY is that exciting (read as: nerve wracking). In the end I'm ecstatic to have participated in this exchange and hope the Reylo fam enjoys this overall. I'm happy to have gotten this fic done and hope that this will inspire me to keep writing. Now ENJOY! <3
> 
> 1st Edit: SO I didn't realize the formatting was soooooo messed up on this so I've attempted to fix it- it was so hard on the eyes I apologize to those who had to read through that, y'all are the MVPs though < 3

“Pleeeeease Miss Jakken!”

An echoing chorus of ‘please’ and ‘sorry’ and ‘just this one time’ resounded. Rey looked on into a sea of pleading eyes and desperate grimaces. All her training, all her teaching courses, all her seminars told her what she had to do; be assertive, put her foot down. But. She just couldn’t do it. Staring out into the faces of her 3rd period she just couldn’t deal that blow, knowing too well the fear of looming assignments and exams, having recently earned her Education degree.

“Please Miss,” Barry, or BB8 as he was called, spoke up, “We really do apologize, but we need this.” 

BB8 a trumpet player. Smaller and still baby-faced than most of the teenaged boys in the class, BB8 was a sweet if not persistent and outgoing presence in Rey’s class. BB8, what an odd nickname. As the 8th child of the Brighton family little ginger Barry was left to make a name for himself, being the last of his siblings to pass through the halls of Takodana High. It sounded like something from the Weasley family in the Harry Potter books, but Rey didn’t question it and soon enough the charming nickname grew on her much like its owner did. 

Rey still held the class’ gaze, unrelenting even though her generous decision had already been made. She took a deep sigh. 

“Alright, but this is the last time.”

A swell of cheers and relieved sighs. 

Another Orchestra class put on the shelf. 

“I want you all to take at least 15 minutes of warm up exercises with your instruments, then you’re free to study for the rest of the period.”  
Unbelievable. Rey’s 3rd period happened to lean more on the Honors student demographic due to scheduling, which resulted in a classroom packed with stress and nerves. And there was a singular cause. Mr. Ren. 

“His tests are IMPOSSIBLE!” One of her students had said on one of the first occasions they were bargaining for study time.

“He’s extremely strict and so specific!” Well that’s what you get with Science teachers. Everything had to be correct down to the last atom…literally. 

“He asks for the most insignificant little details! We need to know every sentence of a chapter to even think about passing!” 

“He’s crazy!”

“He’s evil!”

“A sadist!”

“A monster!”

Rey had had to real the class in the first time they went on a tangent about the professor down and across the hall. It warmed her heart that they trusted her so, but she still couldn’t let them rag on a coworker, even if she hadn’t met him personally. 

Although they were practically neighbors, their two classes being the last two rooms tucked into the corner hall, Mr. Ren had not once come out to introduce himself or welcome Rey, a new teacher, to the school. Not that she was expecting a welcome committee, or anything of the sort, but a little neighborly hospitality wouldn’t have hurt. 

It’s not like she didn’t try either. She’d expected to see him before classes had started, when teachers usually set up their rooms for the upcoming year. To her chagrin, her neighbor never showed up during those preplanning hours, or at least he never showed up when she was there, as it seemed one night to the next his classroom was ready for the school year. 

Come to think of it Rey had barely even seen Mr. Ren. She’d tried those first couple of weeks to wander over and make friendly conversation, but he was never in his class until right before the first bell, leaving no room for socializing. After a week, Rey had already made friends with the other teachers down the main hallway, away from their little alcove. Poe the Spanish teacher, Finn the History teacher, and Rose the Engineering teacher all became part of her morning crew, but her neighbor remained a mystery. 

Well, today that was going to change. As Rey watched over her nerve-wracked students she made a resolution to go and speak to Mr. Ren about his preferred teaching methods. This was no way to be treating kids, having them sick to their stomachs with stress over what? An exam! How harsh was this guy!

While her students were busy reviewing, Rey marched on over across the hall. Sure, socializing during class time wasn’t kosher, but Rey was determined to get to the bottom of this. Her hand ready to knock, she paused in front of his door, chill running up her spine. Why was she nervous? They were both two respectable, reasonable adults. She would talk this out with him, smooth things over, and finally get back to a class of interested and involved students. A warm smile and friendly exchange and this would all be over. 

Her hand knocked on the door. Once.Twice. Three times. Peering in she saw a shadowy figure approach. He opened the door. 

Now Rey was sure she’d seen Mr. Ren during a teacher’s meeting or two, but her being in the Music Department and he being in the Science Department meant that there was little overlap. When she saw the man before her, up close and personal, he left her speechless. 

He wasn’t at all what she’d been expecting. Everything about him was big, his height, his nose, his lips, yet somehow it all fit on his long, and elegant, face. Regal. He looked much too posh and aristocratic to be a high school Biology teacher yet here he was looming over her.

“Yes?” His deep baritone immediately snapped her back to reality. Rey hoped she hadn’t been gawking too much. For all his good looks, when Rey met his eyes, they were deep dark and merciless. She shook off their petrifying gaze. 

“Hi! Um I’m Rey Jakken, your neighbor. I know we haven’t properly met, but I was wondering if we could have a word?” 

She peered inside his classroom. His students were all bent over their desks, busy with his dreaded exam. Perfect timing. 

“This isn’t the best time.” Oh. 

“It’ll only be a moment.” She replied, her resolve steely. 

He seemed to sigh in resignation before stepping outside the classroom to speak with her in private. She smiled brightly at him. 

“I’m not too sure how to start this, being as we just met-”

“Please Miss Jakken speak freely and quickly.” He cut her off, glancing through the window inside towards his class. 

Well he was definitely making this easy.

“A lot of very talented and intelligent students are in my Orchestra class and they also happen to be in your AP Bio class.” He turned to her now, interested. 

“It’s come to my attention that my students haven’t been able to focus on my class due to the severity of your class. Now I’m sure you have their best intentions at heart, as do I, and because of that I wanted to bring this fact to your attention. These kids are horrifyingly stressed out by your exams, to the likes I’ve never seen! Now I’m not trying to tell you how to run your class but-”

“Then stop telling me how to run my class.” He interrupted her with a clipped tone. 

“Excuse me?” Rey managed to get out. 

“Miss Jakken, I’m sure you came here with the best intentions, but my methods are tried and true. I’m tough on my students because I aim to expand their limits and rigorous discipline is the best of teachers.” He said curtly.

“I agree, hard work is important, as well as breaking through your boundaries.” No one had to explain that to Rey “However, pushing these kids to the brink is not the way to go about it!”

“Really? And what would you suggest Miss Jakken?” He asked innocently. This conversation was just going south by the second. 

“Well Mr. Ren,” she spat back 

“Call me Kylo” he cut in and was that a smile playing on his lips or a trick of the light?

“Well Kylo,” she began again “I would start by actually cutting down the material and emphasizing what is important.”

“And how do you know that I don’t already do that?” there was a teasing lilt in his tone. It made Rey’s blood boil.

“Considering the fact these kids are memorizing your chapters down to the last comma, I’d say there’s plenty of fluff you can cut.” She looked him square in the eyes, refusing to back down.

The air between them had grown heavy, like it was charged with an energy neither one of them could name.

“My class requires hard work and study. The students know what they are getting when they sign up. If they can’t handle it that’s an issue for them and their advisors.” Kylo responded simply.

“There has to be some other way to-”

“Miss Jakken, the sciences are a demanding field.” He should’ve stopped there, if he knew what was good for him, but this was Kylo Ren and he was not aware of limits.

“I’m sure that your class is very fun, but my goal is to prepare these kids for their future. Music is a wonderful extracurricular, but not an academic focus. Now I’m sorry I have to get back to my class. I’m giving an exam.”

And with that he turned and left her standing dumbfound outside his door. Rey felt her nails dig into the skin of her palm as her hand curled into a fist. 

 

“Oh, I’m not mad at him” Rey said with a voice as sweet as sugar, plastering a smile across her face, “I just wish he would rot in hell.” 

Rey took a gulp of her steaming hot coffee, almost impervious to the burning sensation. She was still blowing off steam from her interaction with the great nuisance known as Kylo Ren.

“Yikes that bad, huh?” Finn sat across from her in the teacher’s lounge. They had the luck of having lunch together and Rey couldn’t help but spill the beans to Finn about everything that had transpired. 

“How dare he! Why doesn’t he just barge into the music lab and break all of my instruments as well! I’m sure with a hulking form like that it wouldn’t be hard. He’d sit and crush half the string instruments.” She grumbled down at her cup.

Finn reached across to pat her arm 

“There, there. We’ll keep your strings safe.”

“It makes me so mad! Just who does he think he is?!” 

“Well… Nephew of Principal Skywalker for starters.” Finn mumbled. Rey nearly spat out the sip she was taking. 

“You’re kidding?! Sweet Mr. Skywalker is related to that…that…monster!” 

“Woah! You’re not gonna let this go?”

“You’re damn right I won’t!”

“Listen I’m not a fan of all the ‘history is useless’ naysayers, but to each their own and that’s Ren for ya.” Finn said with a sigh.

“I know I know, but it wasn’t just the absolute insult to my career. There was… there was something more. The way he acted, sauntering all over the place like some high and mighty prince, unable to give even the time of day. Ugh! It makes my hair stand on end.”  
Rey brooded over her lunch a moment more before Finn jumped into a recount of antics between him and his students from the last week. 

Apparently, he and Poe had gotten into their own music contest. Being neighbors meant it was easy to hear videos played in each other’s classrooms. Finn ended up playing the Canadian national anthem in retaliation to Poe blasting Shakira’s “Suerte”. At least they appreciated music. 

Even though she laughed with her friend, the issue of Kylo still picked at the back of her mind. When Finn had mentioned something about an extra credit project being turned in completely incorrect, genius struck her and Rey couldn’t hide the dark smile that slithered onto her face. Kylo had no idea who he was messing with.

 

The dreaded dark hour, that sacred, torturous time between the final bell ringing and 4 o’clock when teachers were allowed to leave. Principal Skywalker had emphasized teachers being available for their students afterschool so they could receive extra help or have time to talk out any issues. It was strict and enforced rule in Takodana that teachers could not leave before 4pm. This usually became a time for teachers to grade assignments and tests or tie up any loose ends from the day while they waited for one or another student to pop up if any decided to show. 

Rey was absolutely delighted by this fact, which allowed her plan to work marvelously. 

“Since we’ve lost so much time thanks to the delightful Mr. Ren.” She tried to suppress rolling her eyes in front of her class. “I’m going to give you all the opportunity to make up our lost time.” Rey couldn’t help but smile in glee at the confused looks and raised eye brows. 

“I will be having after school practice in this room, every day. I can’t force you to come, however if you come to at least two sessions I’ll could it as an extra letter grade in your reports.” 

As she expected, their eyes lit up with the very generous offer. 

That first day of practice. practically the whole class had shown up and Rey couldn’t have asked for more. 

“Now kids, since it is after school I want you all to play hard and as loud as you can. Don’t hold back we’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

And thus began the absolute week of torture for Kylo Ren. 

When the brass section had sounded off deafening and unrelenting at the start of the first day, he nearly had a heart attack. The red pen he’d been holding had stained across the essay he’d been marking up. Kylo looked at it with distaste and wrote out an apology on the margin. 

The rest of the week continued much in the same manner. 

Rey’s extra credit class was filled to the brim every day. In an effort to be fair, she’d opened up the offer to her other classes- however since they weren’t at risk with making up time those extra students had to come in three times to earn the grade. 

Kylo was at his wits end. Wood winds pierced his ears leaving them ringing. Percussion banged on his head like an eternal headache. He couldn’t hear himself think, let alone effectively grade his own overly difficult exams. If Rey knew she was helping her students test scores and creating a lenient Kylo Ren, she would’ve had her students playing louder. 

Early on, he tried to go over and speak with her. But the little spitfire hadn’t given him a moment’s notice. 

“I’m sorry Mr.Ren I have to get back to my students. We’re very busy.” She’d said peering out the doorway, not even stopping to step outside. He didn’t miss the mischievous glint in her eyes. Deep down Kylo knew she was doing this just to spite him. That thought made his nostrils flare and his heart race, whether it was in anger or interest he wasn’t even sure.

The weekend was Kylo’s only solace. A moment of peace and quiet, but it passed too quickly. In the blink of an eye it was Monday again and the whole day Kylo found himself glancing at the clock, wondering if this week the pretty Miss Jakken would continue her musical warfare. 

Like clockwork, she began her practice at 2:45pm and Kylo nearly pulled his hair out. No. This couldn’t go on like this. He would get to speak to her whether she wanted to or not.

 

Rey sighed, exhausted and looked at the clock. 4:50pm. Practice had run on longer than she expected, but that seemed to be the trend, her students enjoying the extra time they had to improve. Between wrapping up and chatting with stragglers, time had slipped away. Rey was left arranging the last few desks and stands that were out of place. Her order of new practice books had come in earlier than expected. She decided to store them away as none of her classes would be getting to them soon.

It was during this classroom clean-up that Kylo Ren showed up at her door. He didn’t knock, he didn’t check if there were students, he just barreled on in like he was used to doing so it seemed. Rey didn’t even stop her actions. 

“Miss Jakken, I’d like to have a word with you.” Kylo said. Rey stopped and looked up meeting his gaze.

“Oh Mr. Ren, I didn’t see you there.” She said with not an ounce of sincerity. 

Rey went back to organizing the room, storing papers and folders from her desk. 

“If you have a moment-” Rey walked passed him carrying a stack of the new booklets. She’d already set up the step ladder and climbed up to store them on one of the higher shelves, away and as to not take up space. 

“Rey…” 

That made her stop. She nearly jumped out of her skin. He’d never called her by her first name.

“Rey I wanted to speak with you.” Kylo pleaded. 

“Well go ahead.” Rey said, not turning around to look at him. She continued stacking the books and made her way down the ladder. Kylo’s eyes trailed after her, but he still said nothing. Rey walked passed him and picked up another stack of books, larger than the last and went back to the ladder. 

“Will you stop that?” He practically growled. Now atop her ladder she twisted to look at him, pinning him with an icy stare. It felt good to be taller than him for once. 

“I’m very busy, so go ahead and speak now because I’m heading home as soon as I’m finished here.” And with that she turned and got back to shelving. 

Kylo huffed, she heard him move closer, his shoes resounding on the polished wooden floors. 

“I’ve noticed your afterschool… sessions-”

“Oh? Have you?” She said, sarcasm dripping off each syllable. Another huff. 

“Yes. I have, and so has the whole county. Miss Jakken did you even stop to think that your activities could be disruptive?” 

She stopped and turned to him.

“That’s why we meet after school Mr. Ren, as to not disrupt any other teacher’s classes, but you wouldn’t know much about that would you?” 

He hummed unapprovingly. 

“Miss Jakken, I’m going to have to ask you to stop these after school reunions. They’re disruptive and noisy. I can’t imagine Principal Skywalker allowing this sort of thing to continue.”

“Oh quite the contrary, Kylo.” Rey said sweetly “Principal Skywalker loved the idea when I asked him for approval last week. He appreciates these student’s musical prowess and believes that it should be nurtured in every way possible.”

Kylo couldn’t decide if he was upset or impressed. This woman was so frustrating, but something about her unbreakable will drew him to her. She was pulling him into her orbit and he could do nothing to stop it. 

He tried another approach. 

“Listen, Rey,” Kylo began, “I know we got off on the wrong foot and I might’ve said some things that were out of line, but you have to admit that this whole thing is ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous?” Rey was practically throwing the books into the cupboard. “Is it ridiculous to want to see my own students excel? Is it ridiculous that I’m willing to dedicate extra time to them? No Kylo, I think you’re the one that’s ridiculous, do you really think this was all for you?” She happened a glance his way and he was cowed before her, embarrassed. She swore it must’ve been the low afternoon light, but his high cheeks had a tinge of pink. The idea made her own cheeks heat.

"You were the one who gave me the idea though, being that music is such a ‘wonderful extracurricular.’” She shot him a cheeky smile. 

“Are you freaking serious? The reason I haven’t been able to get half of my exams graded is because you insist on playing this childish game!”

“No! The reason you haven’t been able to do your work is because you’re a smug, stuck up, self-righteous pri-!”

In her anger, Rey had spun around to face Kylo Ren. One mis-step. She felt her shoe slip and the ladder tumble out from under her. Rey braced herself for the fall, expecting hard wooden floor. Instead, she found herself enveloped in a pair of strong arms. 

Rey didn’t notice when she had gripped on to Kylo’s shirt but she was holding on to it for dear life, exposing some of his collar bone. After the crash of the ladder and the remaining books, the last thing she heard was the sound of a button bouncing off the floor. She would later realize that it was her fault for tugging on his shirt so tightly. 

Kylo held her like he had done so all his life. She fit perfectly into him and for a moment Rey forgot the world around them. All she could focus on was how natural it felt to be carried by Kylo, his hands warm on the back of her knees and the small of her back. She looked up at him and found he was looking down at her.

It was effortless to be like that together. Rey realized that she had been holding her breath, and found that Kylo was doing the same.

“Thank you.” Rey said in a breathy whisper, unwilling to break the silence further. Kylo nodded eyes not leaving hers. 

They stayed like that for another beat before Kylo moved towards the nearest seat and gently placed Rey down. 

He kneeled on one leg to remain eye level with her. 

“Are you alright?” He said, concern written across his face along with something else. Something Rey didn’t want to identify right now least it show on her face as well. 

“I’m fine, just a little winded.” She replied lamely. 

Rey learned that Kylo had a terrible poker face, not even trying to mask his worry for her. He leaned in and studied her face for longer than was strictly necessary. It causes a jolt of electricity to shudder up her spine. 

She stared back at him and as much as she had denied it before she had to admit he was very handsome. Kylo seemed to make some decision of his own and stood to move away from her. He began to pick up the scattered books and restack them. Rey could only sit and stare at him as he did so. 

She traced his figure with her eyes as he finished shelving the books and taking care of her classroom.

He walked to the door and turned to her. And in a softer voice asked.

“Can we at least work out a schedule?”

Rey stared at him, her mind taking a moment to catch up. She smirked up at him.

“As soon as you work on your curriculum.” 

Slack jawed and taken aback, Rey wished she could take a photo of him like that, keep it for posterity. Kylo continue to stare at her until the side of his mouth twitched into a half smile. He chuckled and Rey found herself drawn to the deep, warm sound. 

He shook his head on his way to the door, turned to give her a small nod and a short wave before he was out and gone. 

Maybe there was more to Kylo Ren than Rey thought.


End file.
